Saturday 21 September 2019

Derbyshire V Essex T20 Semi-Final

Essex 160-5 (Delport 55, Westley 39, Hughes and Reece each 2-24)
Derbyshire 126 (Hughes 23, Harmer 4-19, Nijjar 3-26)
Essex won by 34 runs

Alas, the writing was on the wall for Derbyshire today, from the moment that Simon Harmer won the toss for Essex and opted to bat.

The wicket was slow, it enabled the ball to grip at times and later, when Harmer came on, the spin was considerable.

Delport could have gone early, a skied pull going between converging fielders, but the fielding wasn't quite there for us today. There were several half chance run outs that need to go your way on the big occasions, while a handful of ground fielding errors were untypical of recent form.

Delport took advantage of some variation of line and length to play the match-winning innings of 55 from 31 balls, while Westley kept the other end ticking over.

There wasn't much wrong with the bowling. Fynn was a little more expensive than usual, while it never seemed a wicket for van Beek. I said on Twitter during the first game that I would have gone for Stevens in his place, and it may just have been his type of surface. Still, it didn't happen and we actually did well to drag Essex back to a total of 160 in their twenty overs. Hughes and Reece did especially well, further proof perhaps that the Kent man might have enjoyed conditions.

Luis Reece set off like a train with two fours and a six in the opening over, but a brilliant catch by Wheater saw him depart before he inflicted enough damage to make a difference. Godleman smoked two fine boundaries, but was then bowled by a ripper from Harmer, who got extravagant turn throughout.

Madsen looked good on the sweep and was taking toll of Nijjar's left arm spin, before he miscalculated against a quicker ball, left his leg stump open and was bowled. Du Plooy went to another that turned a long way, while both Critchley and Dal went to shots that didn't warrant replays.

Hughes fought for a while, but Nijjar turned one past his outside edge as he came down the wicket and he was easily stumped. With 75 needed from 44 balls at that point, the game was gone.

Essex brought on Lawrence's off spin to capitalise on conditions and he bowled Hudson-Prentice, as the collapse became definitive. Derbyshire were eventually all out for 126, after some late blows from Smit, van Beek and Rampaul took the score closer than was actually the case.

It was a disappointment for the support, both those who travelled and those at home, but the Derbyshire squad has broken new ground this summer and can be proud of their efforts. A small squad has done very well to get through to the end of the season, though not without injuries. Smit undergoes surgery on a shoulder injury on Monday, while others have been held together with tape for a few weeks now. With four days to go, they will be ready for a deserved rest.

It was no disgrace then, in a summer when they have mixed it with the best and often come out on top. Something to build on in future years, when having experienced the occasion, they will be more ready for it next time.

Earlier, Nottinghamshire completed an awful year with a late collapse that was as inexplicable as it was inept. The difficulties of batting second notwithstanding, they should have made 11 from the last 12 balls with wickets in hand. Why they sent in Patel, the slowest man in the team, when quick running was going to be needed, I have no idea. It  suggested muddied thinking that has ravaged their summer.

Still, every cloud has a silver lining, eh?

As for the final, the winner will likely be the side that wins the toss. I suspect Worcestershire, who held their nerve well, will retain their trophy.

16 comments:

  1. No shame in defeat . Well done on getting to finals day

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  2. No complaints. Two misfields that cost 2 extra runs would not have affected result. Possibly DS in for LVB in hindsight, although LVB did okay today. The batting...... that's the way we play!!! It works 3/4 but today was the 1/4. Accept it

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  3. Well done lads for getting there. I was disappointed with the fact we didn’t try some of the part time spin of madsen and Du Plooy during the game. I was disappointed van Beek played we know he will only bowl 2 overs what’s the point would have rather had Stevens. Or even Qadri as clear as day pitch would turn. Loyalty to the players that got us there is one thing but you have to pick a team to win a game. I didn’t think we did that. Where has Watt disappeared to. Seen nothing on that this is what we signed him for but didn’t play at old Trafford when Peakfan thought he would. Wasn’t even in the squad there or since no comments so far as I could see. Essex won toss for final and are having a bowl not sure that is what you meant? I’ve turned off now as totally depressed it’s not us. I will switch back on later when little one gone to bed. I would normally cheer in Worcs but fancy losing to the winners personally. So come on Essex. Harmer was world class. Some of the shot selection though, especially the stumpings was poor. Very poor. Great experience for the lads they need to learn from it and if we can get the recruitment right (we don’t have one class spin bowler) then maybe next year. Critchley is useful don’t get me wrong but he’s not a class act which is what we need as spin department let’s us down in 4 day and in white ball. Barnett had the right idea with Jeevan and Tahir. In closing well done to all the lads and onwards and upwards. Cork should have learnt a lot from today in terms of what we need and the players will have enjoyed the experience so should want more of it next year.

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  4. What a game that final was. Harmer well it was is day really. Congrats to Essex. We lost to the champs a lot to be said for that.

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  5. So disappointing in our batting! The venue was set for someone to play a scintillating innings: Reece (on the back of is 184 against Sussex), Billy (who has been in great form), Madsen (Mr Derbyshire), Du Plooy (garnering praise from all quarters), or Fynn Hudson-Prentice (the new, and exciting, kid on the block). But no one could do the business. The game began to slip away when we were batting after the power play.

    We did so well to get to finals day - but we were not up to the challenge.

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    1. The last thing the venue was set up for was for someone to play a scintillating innings, with an utter disgrace of a pitch for a major occasion. If the ECB had wanted to undermine the spectacle of t20's showcase, it couldn't have asked for better than this woeful apology for a cricket wicket. It's not an excuse for Derbyahire (and Worcestershire) who play their t20 on slow dry pitches so should be better prepared than some others, but a pitch that discourages everything but wicket-to-wicket slow bowling is not acceptable.

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  6. Love the positiveness but we got it so wrong. 8 of our 10 wickets fell to spin. Clearly a pitch to take the pace off with othodox spin.
    Yet Madsen didn't bowl at all. Was happy at 160 after the start they made but we missed a massive trick by not bowling spin.

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    1. Wayne has bowled little in weeks because of an ankle issue near his achilles tendon.
      We took pace off pretty well with Reece, Hughes and Critch. I don't think Wayne would have improved on that, and I won't compare him to Harmer as a bowler. Miles apart!

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    2. Wasn't aware of Madsen injury PF but the opinion re spin (lack off) still holds.
      Please point me to where I compared anyone with Harmer, we've known for a while that it would be futile to compare any spinner playing in England at the moment. I get very frustated with the amount of people who were just happy we were there.
      We went to win didn't we? No point going othetwise.


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    3. To use your own words Rich, please tell me where I said I was happy just to be there?

      The players went to win, of course. But they lost to the eventual winners, whose attack included three spinners, two of who were better than anything we have, bowled or not bowled.

      To be fair, our later bowlers brought it back very well and nothing in the first match had suggested it would turn SO much. Ali was tight, but not unplayable.

      In such conditions a quality spinner makes a huge difference. Someone like Tahir would have been a challenge, but we have to accept spin is not one of our stronger suits at present.

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    4. No question that Harmer was the bowler of the day, and Critchley didn't bowl well (whether by his poor control or a tactical decision, wide of the off stump on this pitch didn't look a great idea) but let's not beat ourselves or Critchley up about it. Over the whole t20, Critchley had 17 wickets at 18.53 and an economy rate of 7.49. while Harmer had the same number of wickets at 20.47 with an economy rate of 8.16. Take out his final day performances, Harmer had a much poorer time than Critchley, averaging 31.3 per wicket at 9.02 per over. Of course Harmer still had to turn up and perform on the big day as great players will do, but Critchley's performances across the competition shouldn't be devalued because he paled in comparison to the best spinner in the country on a pitch which could have been custom-made for him.

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  7. A terrific achievement in getting there with the four consecutive wins. I'd have had Stevens in for Van Beek given the conditions but can understand the reluctance to change. Essex are a quality team and Harmer isn't the leading bowler for nothing. No disgrace in losing to them and a great finish to the final.

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  8. Congrats to Freddie the Falcon who won the mascot race!!!

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  9. Interesting tweet from Fynn saying they didn’t show up on the day

    Obviously gutted to not go on and win the trophy, but what a great campaign for everyone at @DerbyshireCCC.

    Massive shame we didn’t show up on the day. Huge thanks to the fans, been excellent the whole competition 👏🏼

    Hoping to finish strong at @HomeOfCricket this week 💪🏼

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  10. A few general comments on Finals Day.

    It was quite an experience but I wouldn't go as a neutral unless I could guarantee that the weather would be as good as yesterday. For a competition that attracts a lot of boys to group games, there didnt seem many present. Too expensive/noisy/crowded/drunken perhaps?

    The Derbyshire fans area had a decent view, but at 60 degrees to the wicket, not good enough to see how difficult to play were balls like the one which dismissed Du Plooy.

    Match 1. Worcs wouldn't have had any sort of total without Ross Whiteley's assault on Mullaney - 6, 4, 6 over long on off successive balls. But I still don't know how Notts managed to lose.

    Match 2 Cameron Delport was the only batsman on either side to get going and stay in, thanks to skiers and mishits landing between fielders. Derbyshire did pretty well to restrain Essex's other batsmen. There wasn't a single six in the Essex innings. Unfortunately it was Simon Harmer's day and he got his tactics right. Derbyshire can't have expected to face only three overs of fast bowling. There did seem to be a few nerves - most of the team won't have played in front of a crowd half as big. It was disappointing, but remember Essex had lost four semi-finals before winning the fifth.

    Match 3 This was anything but "hit and giggle" - all tactics and tight bowling. I wondered why Essex chose to chase as the wicket would only get more difficult. Worcs made a good start but couldn't accelerate - again there were only three overs of fast bowling (which went for 26). Worcs did bowl their faster men, and had Essex behind the run rate, until Bopara hit a few boundaries and Harmer came in to complete his day. Worcs couldn't expect two last over miracles in one day.

    Roll on next year, and we will find the coach park more easily next time!

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